Florida’s Hospitality Industry Hosts Statewide Dine Out for Orlando United to Support Victims, Families and Community

(Orlando, Fla.) – To help victims and their families in the aftermath of the shooting in Orlando, Florida’s hospitality industry is offering its support by hosting a statewide community event on Thursday, June 30, 2016. Led by the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association in partnership with VISIT FLORIDA, the fundraiser, “Dine Out for Orlando United,” will be a day for Florida restaurants, their employees and guests to make a difference in the lives of those affected by the tragedy. All proceeds raised will be donated to the OneOrlando Fund, which is designed to provide a way to respond to the needs of the local community, now and in the time to come.

“Our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families. As an industry, we want to continue to rally around them by offering our support, time and resources. Pulse is a member of the FRLA, a part of our hospitality family and we are proud to lend support. We encourage all Floridians and visitors to participate in this Dine Out to help the entire Orlando community,” said Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

“The Florida tourism industry stands united as a community. This is a wonderful way for restaurants and Floridians statewide to come together in solidarity with the Orlando community and make a difference,” said Will Seccombe, president and CEO at VISIT FLORIDA.

“We are grateful for the support and leadership of Florida’s hospitality industry as we continue to work together to help the victims of this tragedy. We want to encourage everybody to dine out on June 30 to help raise money for the families of the victims,” said Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando.

During the event, guests across the state are encouraged to dine at a participating restaurant and/or choose to make a direct donation. Employees can work a shift, choose to volunteer their time or donate a portion of tips. Businesses can join our list of participants and help us promote, organize and/or donate.

To participate, restaurants can:

Donate a portion of total sales

Collect donations received from guests and staff

Donate a portion of total profits

Make a donation for every sale of a specific item

Identify a set donation amount

Media is asked to contact FRLA Communications Director, Elizabeth Ray at eray@frla.org. For restaurants interested in participating in the event, please contact Dan Murphy at dmurphy@frla.org. More information, along with a growing list of participating restaurants, will be available online at http://frla.org/dine-out-orlando/.

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About OneOrlando Fund
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced the formation of the OneOrlando Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to provide a way to help respond to the needs of our community, now and in the time to come, after the effects of the Pulse tragedy. The distribution of the funds will be administered by the Central Florida Foundation. The Foundation serves as the region’s community foundation and is home to more than 400 charitable funds. For information regarding the OneOrlando Fund or to make a wire transfer, please contact info@oneorlando.org.

About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging AssociationFRLA is Florida’s premier non-profit hospitality industry trade association. Our mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s $82 billion hospitality industry which represents 23% of Florida’s economy and more than 1.1 million employees – making it the state’s number one industry. We offer regulatory compliance and food safety training needs (RCS and SafeStaff®); industry developed career-building high school programs (FRLAEF); sponsor the only event in Florida exclusively serving the restaurant and foodservice industry (FR&L Show, September 27-29, 2016 in Orlando); and we safeguard the needs of the hospitality industry by providing legislative advocacy. We represent and serve more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org and find us on Twitter @FRLAnews, Facebook and YouTube